


Cat's in the Cradle

by The_Purple_Cat



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU, Father son relationship, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-11
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2018-01-15 08:07:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1297597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Purple_Cat/pseuds/The_Purple_Cat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Song fic set to "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chappin. </p><p>A series of interactions between Tony aand his Dad, throughout his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cat's in the Cradle

My child arrived just the other day

He came to the world in the usual way

But there were planes to catch and bills to pay

He learned to walk while I was away

And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew

He'd say "I'm gonna be like you, Dad

You know I'm gonna be like you"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ring.Ring,ring. The phone on Howard Stark’s desk was ringing. Reaching over, he picked it up and gave a clipped “Hello. Howard Stark. Who is this?” as a greeting. The person on the other line responded in a posh British voice. “ Mr. Stark, it is Edwin Jarvis. Good day to you.”

“Ah, Jarvis. What is it? Make it quick, I’ve got a meeting in ten, please.”

A soft hmmm was heard on the phone. “Of course Mr. Stark. I was just calling you to inform you that your son has arrived. At eight twenty-five this morning Mrs.Stark delivered a healthy baby boy. Seven pounds, nine ounces and eighteen inches long. The doctors say that he is healthy, very strong lungs. She wishes to know what you think of the name ‘Antonio Edward Stark’”

Howard sighed. They had discussed this. “No. The two of us discussed this already, he will be ‘Anthony Edward Stark’. Not Antonio. Make sure it is Anthony on the birth certificate Jarvis. I will head home this evening.”

“Of course Mr.Stark.” Jarvis replied. “I will ensure that the correct name is on the birth certificate. Until this evening?”

“This evening.Good day Jarvis.” With that, Howard hung up the phone. He had a lot of work to do if he wanted to get home this afternoon, no time to waste.

*

Howard yawned. He was in Tokyo for a meeting with the head of Futuchuko Tech, whom he was hoping to acquire and his cell phone was ringing. At four in the morning. Recognizing the number on the caller id as his home number he answered it. 

“Howard Stark. Who is this?” 

“Howard! It’s Maria. You’ll never guess what Tony just did.” Howard’s wife’s voice was high pitched, and it grated on Howard’s nerves. Why couldn’t she just get to the point? 

“I don’t know Maria, what did Anthony do?” That was another thing, she insisted on calling their son by that childish name Tony. Why, he had no clue. The boy had a perfectly good name.

“He walked Howard! All on his own, without holding onto anything! It was only about five steps, but he walked, all on his own! Aren’t you so excited?”

Ahh, the child had hit another milestone. 

“Yes Maria, that’s great. Can I call you back, it’s the middle of the night here. I’ll talk to you later. Goodbye.” Without even waiting for his wife to say good bye, he hung up the phone. It was too early for this crap.

*

“Dada” little Tony pipped up from his mother’s arms. “Dada, no go.Peas?” he asked with a frown as he reached for his father, who was getting ready to leave.

“Howard, can’t you put this meeting off? Listen to him, he wants to spend time with you. You don’t spend enough time with him.” Maria said to the busy man.

“No, I can’t Maria, it is am important meeting. My presence could make this deal. I have to be there, he’ll just have to get over it. He’s a Stark, we’re tough. Good bye Maria, Tony.”  Howard opened the door to leave.

“Buh Bye, Dada.” Tony said, tears shimmering in his eyes.

Howard left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon

Little boy blue and the man on the moon

When you comin' home, Dad

I don't know when, but we'll get together then

You know we'll have a good time then

 

My son turned ten just the other day

He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let's play

can you teach me to throw", I said "Not today

I got a lot to do", he said, "That's ok

And he walked away but his smile never dimmed

And said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah

You know I'm gonna be like him"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dad, thanks for the computer. Can we do some coding together?” Today was Tony’s tenth birthday. Howard had given him a state of the art computer rather than a ball, like most kids his age would have gotten. He glared at his son.

“Tony, that is for you to learn how computers are made. I expect you to be able to build your own by the end of the month, with no help.You are a Stark, after all, so you do not need any help.” Honestly, the boy thought he would help him? Not a chance.

“Oh, ok Dad. I’ll figure it all out! That way I can be just like you, and build computers and robots!” Howard nodded at him "Good. Why don’t you take that to your room and get started now.”

*

Tony built a computer all of his own in three days. Howard was in L.A on a business meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon

Little boy blue and the man on the moon

When you comin' home, Dad

I don't know when, but we'll get together then

You know we'll have a good time then

 

Well, he came from college just the other day

So much like a man I just had to say

"Son, I'm proud of you, can you sit for a while"

He shook his head and said with a smile

"What I'd really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys

See you later, can I have them please"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony stood before Howard, garbed in a black gown and cap. He had just graduated top of his class, Valedictorian and all, from MIT. 

“Tony, good job. Would you like to join your mother and me for dinner at Area Four?”

Tony smiled at his dad and said “Nah, me and a bunch of the guys have reservations at Sidney’s. I would like the keys to the Lamborghini. Me and Rhodey are gonna ride in style! Can I?”

Howard sighed, reached into his pocket and pulled out the asked for keys. He handed them to Tony with a frown. “Be careful with it Tony, a single scratch and I swear...” His threat trailed off, Tony already walking away.

“Bye Dad!” He called over his shoulder as he left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon

Little boy blue and the man on the moon

When you comin' home son

I don't know when, but we'll get together then, Dad

You know we'll have a good time then

 

I've long since retired, my son's moved away

I called him up just the other day

I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"

He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time

You see my new job's a hassle and kids have the flu

But it's sure nice talking to you, Dad

It's been sure nice talking to you"

 

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me

He'd grown up just like me

My boy was just like me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Howard picked up his phone from where it rested on his work bench and dialed his son’s number. After the third ring, Tony’s voice answered with a short “What’s up dad?”. 

Howard sighed. Kids these days, they had no sense of proper English. “Good morning Tony. I haven’t seen you in a while and was wondering if you would be willing to have lunch with me sometime this week, a chance to catch up with each other. I thought maybe at Marleene’s, I know you love their burgers.”

A heavy sigh was heard. “Sorry dad, but I’m real busy this week. Next week too now that I think of it. See, my job is a real hassle, got nine different projects going at once, you know how that is. Trying to make those damn board members see that, no, the cheaper option isn’t the way to go. And don’t get me started on the idiots in R&D, I swear I have to fix everything they make up! And on top of that, the kids have the flu. Nah, I’m too busy to meet up this week, or for a while even.”

Howard sighed. “Tony, what do you mean ‘the kids have the flu’? You don’t have any kids...Or is there something you need to tell me?”

Tony laughed, his laugh loud. Howard loved it when his boy laughed. “Sure I have kids. And you’ve meet them too. Their names are Dummy, U, and Butterfingers. Dummy was playing around on the internet and managed to catch a virus. He spread it to the others. Now I got to fix them too. Oh, shoot. No Dummy put that down! Sorry dad, I got to go stop Dummy from blowing up the lab. Again.”

Tony hung up on him and all Howard could think was ‘That boy is sure like me’.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon

Little boy blue and the man in the moon

When you comin' home son

I don't know when, but we'll get together then, Dad

We're gonna have a good time then

 


End file.
